E-Scum Gong Chapter 58 (Part 1)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 58 (1/2)
The last time they had met was at the airport. He was in such a rush to pick him up that Lin Shen didn't get a good look at Lin Xu. Now, as he looked again, he felt like Lin Xu had become a lot more mature.
The two brothers stood under the shade of a tree, their eyes locked.
Lin Shen appeared slightly tired, perhaps due to his recent busy work schedule, but he still managed to come over during his lunch break.
"I've seen everything online. Don't worry, Ah Xu, I'll find a way to handle it.” He wanted to quell all the rumors, so that his younger brother could study in peace.
Lin Shen gazed at his younger brother's youthful face, feeling as if he had failed. He had assumed that even though Lin Xu had come to the capital, he would be safe and undisturbed at school, so he hadn't been paying constant attention. He never imagined what Lin Xu had gone through during this time.
"Ge, I'm really fine. Those rumors don't concern me, and they won't affect me," Lin Xu said, shaking his head. He felt that, from beginning to end, he was just an ordinary person who had done nothing wrong. The discussions outside had nothing to do with him, as long as they stay away from him.
"Ah Xu..." Lin Shen wanted to mention how much his younger brother had changed, but he didn't know where to begin.
"Whatever happens, you must always tell me or Mom and Dad. Don't try to bear everything on your own," he finally said.
It seemed that since Lin Xu had become an adult, he had never shared much about his life with them. Over the past year, the messages he sent had dwindled significantly.
"Okay," Lin Xu replied, though he didn't pay much attention to it in his heart.
In his previous life, he had been an only child and had grown accustomed to solving all his problems alone. He wasn't an immature boy who would seek out complaints for every issue.
"By the way, the National Day is coming up soon after your military training, right? I'll come to pick you up and bring you home. There are some things I need to confess to you," Lin Shen said warmly, placing a hand on his younger brother’s shoulder.
Now that the most pressing issues had been resolved, it was time to reveal the true situation at home to Lin Xu.
"I want to stay at school during the holiday. There are still many things I need to deal with," Lin Xu responded instinctively, thinking about his schedule. He had always been strict about his academic responsibilities.
"It doesn’t matter if you miss a few days. Besides, you haven’t seen Mom and Dad for over half a year."
"Hmm." Lin Xu could only agree. As for what his older brother wanted to confess, he hadn’t given it much thought, assuming it wasn’t something significant.
"By the way, what was your friend talking about just now?" Lin Shen asked curiously. Could it be that his younger brother was suffering from a broken heart?
When it came to this, Lin Xu felt a touch of genuine emotion. He felt his ears flush with embarrassment, not expecting his roommates to be so gossipy.
The situation with Zhizhi was still a bit complicated, so he chose to keep it a secret for the time being. "It’s nothing... They were just joking. My roommates love to talk nonsense."
"I see. I was just thinking, after finishing your college entrance exams, you wouldn't have had time to start a relationship anyway." Lin Shen also thought that freshmen were often a bit restless and liked to stir up trouble. Compared to them, his younger brother's words were more believable.
"But I support you finding a girlfriend now. It's not considered early dating anymore. It's pretty good to have a sweet campus romance. The school environment is still very pure, and it will be difficult to have this opportunity again once you enter society," Lin Shen said with a sigh.
Lin Shen had poured all his affection into his younger brother. During his university years, after learning about the family situation, he had been forced to begin studying the management of the family business, sacrificing his normal college experience.
Their parents were true self-made millionaires. Childhood sweethearts who started with nothing, they had received little formal education and had traveled extensively from a young age, experiencing many setbacks and being deceived by relatives and friends. They had eventually seized an opportunity and established themselves in the capital. Compared to old money families, the Lin family had initially been ridiculed as nouveau riche because their parents had low educational backgrounds. They had to balance entrepreneurship with continued learning, relying on their fierce spirit to gradually develop to the point where everyone looked up to them.
Lin Shen appreciated the hard work of his parents but had to admit that their harsh methods of education had caused him to lose his innocence and freedom after graduating from high school.
Now, with the situation stabilized, Lin Xu wouldn’t have to go through the same struggles and could choose his own path freely.
"Alright…" Lin Xu responded with difficulty. Meeting his older brother's gaze, he thought that although he might have missed out on a campus romance, his partner was still quite pure...
"If any of your classmates try to take you to shady places, you must avoid them. Don’t associate with those unsavory characters," Lin Shen added, knowing that the circles they moved in were rife with people lacking moral integrity. It was crucial to keep Lin Xu away from such influences.
There were also those aimless rich second-generation kids, who were completely different from Lin Xu's path.
In time, Lin Shen hoped to gradually introduce Ah Xu to the complexities of the world.
"I understand. Ge, you should go back and rest. Don’t worry about me," Lin Xu said earnestly after noticing the red veins in his eyes. Anyway, he did not feel that the warnings were directly relevant to him.
Lin Shen returned, reassured that his younger brother could now focus on his studies.
Yet, it wasn’t only the Lin family who was concerned about Lin Xu.
"Eh? What’s going on? Did we do something?" Gu Jinzhi was under constant surveillance, his days revolving between the company and home. Using Xu Zhou as an excuse wasn't working anymore.
Now, he was seriously focused on his career, determined to expose Yan Yang’s true nature to the public to avenge his boyfriend. His motives were purely driven by personal resentment rather than a sense of justice. He simply couldn’t tolerate his boyfriend being slandered.
However, when he saw the latest news about Yan Yang, he was baffled and even sought out Yu Song for answers.
The response he received was negative. Yu Song was still waiting for the right moment. Although it was unclear whether Yan Yang’s rivals were also trying to bring him down, it was advantageous for them.
After the turmoil, Yan Yang’s team indeed devised a strategy to rehabilitate his image by presenting him as a relatable, inspirational figure.
His tragic background spread across the internet. Although this slapped the faces of some of the crazy fans who boasted that Yan Yang was a rich kid chasing his dreams in the entertainment industry, it did have some effect.
Hailing from a humble town and grappling with estranged parents, he dropped out of high school and dedicated himself to years of grueling training. This journey, culminating in a late-twenties career breakthrough, resonated with the struggles of ordinary people.
Moreover, since this incident had been caused by irrational fans, it didn’t seem entirely fair for Yan Yang himself to bear the brunt of it.
This strategy did have a whitewashing effect. The general public gradually began to feel sympathetic, recognizing that everyone had their struggles and there was no need to hold grudges.
Even within that gay group chat, discussions about Yan Yang had fallen silent. No one was criticizing him anymore for abandoning his boyfriend and catering to cp fans to boost his career. Given his circumstances, perhaps anyone in his position would make similar choices.
In contrast, Lin Xu appeared relatively fortunate. At least he could attend university in peace, with the care of his grandparents and the support of his teachers and university.
Moreover, some netizens had discovered that he had been in an international class before, which suggested that his family background was better than average. At least, they were comfortably middle class — better off than many ordinary people.
As a result, his own efforts seemed to be downplayed.
Many people unconsciously pursued complete equality. Since Yan Yang had been dealt a poor set of cards, everything he did was justified. It was reasonable for him to not study hard, and it was also reasonable for him to be afraid of guiding his fans out of fear of losing their support.
Amidst this, Lin Xu, who had emerged victorious, seemed almost aggressive.
But there was nothing to fault Lin Xu for. He didn't even come forward, unlike Yan Yang who forced himself to look haggard in interviews. So, it seemed like it was best to just let it fade away. One could continue to work hard as an idol, and the other could study at the highest institution of learning. Nobody got hurt.
Yet, just as Yan Yang’s team began to enjoy their few new endorsements and variety show appearances, they were unexpectedly met with a sudden slap in the face.
The subsequent events made netizens reflect deeply, realizing they were too easily swayed by the flow.
While it was true that Yan Yang's background was ordinary, and his parents had divorced, his mother was still working hard to support him. His dropping out of school wasn’t due to financial issues but because of severe violations of school regulations, combined with his consistently poor grades and lack of interest in studying.
Originally, his family had arranged for him to attend a technical school, where he could have learned a skill and lived a decent life. But he had secretly run away, struggling to survive in the capital for years through various means of deceit.
His trainee period was actually quite brief, rendering the narrative of his years of grueling training meaningless.
The most crucial issue was the story behind his debut.
As someone who was parachuted in, his rise to the position of leader meant he had displaced someone else’s spot.
The grassroot narrative in the interviews was a joke. He had ultimately used privileges to secure his career, and it was easy to understand the nature of the deals involved.
"We should support genuine actions, not just backgrounds that appear righteous," a bystander summarized the recent turmoil.
Everyone starts as a nobody. What matters is whether you can always stay true to yourself.
Yan Yang had indeed been nailed to the pillar of shame. While the evidence of his deceit was still debatable, his position as the parachuted team leader was a confirmed fact, making any attempts at whitewashing a farce.
"I've always thought his dancing and singing were mediocre. It turns out he hadn’t trained seriously for long."
"In a variety show, there was a moment when he lost his temper with a teammate just because the teammate asked if he knew a certain brand. He got angry out of embarrassment."
"I think, at the very least, knowing how hard it is to succeed, one should treat their current life seriously. He’s been known to act arrogant, too."
